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WHAT MOTIVATES THE INDIAN MANAGER?

- Dr. R. K. Srivastava

What drives the Indian Manager is the big question? Many studies were conducted to
find out the motivation factors for Indian Managers. Are they different compared to
managers working in US or Europe? The factor that drives the human behaviour are
different when applied to Indian environment. What factors satisfies the Indian managers
and why Indian managers leave jobs? These are few burning issues which were studied
recently during the study conducted in India.

The objective of the study was to find out


1) Factors which motivates the managers.
2) What are the challenges they expect in coming years due to opening of the economy?
3) Why do managers leave their job?
4) What are the problems faced by the managers today while dealing with the
customers?

Research Methodology

The study was conducted among Indian managers. The tool used was questionnaire
technique. The managers were asked to fill up the questionnaire filled in one to one
interview. Total 88 Indian managers participated.

The entire process took about 5 months to complete. Managers from different companies
participated in this research.

Management Controls

A precaution was taken to ensure that no question remain unfilled and at the same time
the managers were not influenced during one to one interview process while they were
filling up the forms. The entire process was conducted after taking their appointments so
that a proper congenial environment can be mantained.

Results

It is quite interesting to note that today the managers are looking for good working
environment which was to the extent of 36%. The second highest motivating factor
was scope for learning – 25%. The third factor which motivates the manager was his
relationships with immediate boss – 14%. In fact, many people do not leave the
company because immediate boss is very nice to the person concerned even though
salary structure is low. No wonder, the good monetary benefits was the 4th motivating
factor for the managers and not the first.

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It is awakening call for all the organisations and should help in gearing up the
organisation structure in such a manner that each and every employee get good working
environment and also scope for learning. This will help the organization to retain people
and thus ensure stability.

The Table 1 gives the findings on the factors which motivates the managers.

Table 1 : What motivates Indian Managers? –


Top Five Factors European Factors – Top Five

Motivating Factors N = 88 Motivating Factors Rank


Good working environment 36% Analyse Job Problem 1
Scope for learning 24% Sales Target 2
Good immediate boss 14% Job problem 3
Good monetary benefits 11% Promotion 4
(Indian Study 2004) Job Career 5
European study for Sales Personnel

There are certain organisations were the turnover of people is very high inspite of so
called professionalism in their own organisation. Even big MNCs have a turnover of
people around 10 to 12% every year. In certain organization the turnover of managers
are even very high. The indepth study conducted for causative factors for leaving the
company revealed that many managers leave because of no growth prospects. This is
very interesting observation for the HRD personnel. HRD has not charted out the career
path for the individual properly. In fact during this indepth study, 93% people mentioned
that they leave company because they see no future for them.

And 57% of the people leave the organisation because the organisation does not develop
them.

The training today is becoming very important factor and in improving the growth of the
organisation. Unfortunately, in many organisation this is most neglected part. However,
people tend to develop “I KNOW” syndrome which destroys many organisation because
today’s success do not guarantee that the person will get same success
or the organisation will be successful tomorrow. Another factor which influences leaving
was low salary which was around 43%. However the fourth causative factors for leaving
the organisation was the bad boss. Organisation should develop a healthy relationship
with the boss and colleague working under him.

There are few organisations which really takes care of relationship between boss and
subordinate so that their effectiveness improves? Table 2 gives finding of the causative
factors of Indian managers leaving the organisation.

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Table 2 : Causative factors for leaving the organisation by Managers


N = 88
Factors %
No growth prospect 93%
Non learning opportunity 57%
Low Salary 43%
Bad Boss 32%
Non Ahievement Target 9%

The second part of the study was to explore the views of the managers on future
challenges which they expect in the coming years. The globlization added with
liberalisation has made the environment more competitive. Three challenges emerged
very clearly. They were:

1) Improving growth on a continuous basis (60%)


2) Managing and Improving Productivity (50%)
3) Retaining good people (20%).

This is contrary to the world study conducted earlier which rated communication as No. 1
challenge for the managers. Table 3 compares the challenges faced by Indian managers
vis-à-vis with the European/US managers.

Table 3 : What challenges you expect in the coming year?

Challenges Expected % Challenges %


Expected
Improving Growth 60% Improved communication technology 65
Improving Productivity 50% Providing better management skills 60%
Retaining good people 20% To serve Key Accounts 57%
Measuring results with new factors 53%
Indian Study 2004 (World Executive Digest May, 1998)

Today, Indian Managers are emerging as a well respected managers basically because of
their practical and matured approach. They are able to anticipate problems and take
proactive measures. No wonder, Indian managers are doing very well and have shown a
better performance during the year 2003-2004.

During the study managers are asked about major problems faced by them while dealing
with customers. Table 4 gives the interesting data on different customer behaviour
pattern.

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Table 4 : Problem faced by Managers in dealing with the customer?

Rank
Customer asking for more service 1
Customer negotiating on even small matter 2
Customer is becoming more difficult 2
Customer not giving enough time for sales talk 3

Today customer is more demanding and is more aware. This has led to customer asking
for more service. The old style of marketing and sales will not satisfy the customer.
Therefore, the above table gives an indication to an organization to develop their strategy
accordingly and give emphasis and face competition in changing environment.

Discussion

The whole environment has changed today. The manager’s attitude and behaviour
should also change. The organization has to be customer focus instead of product
centric. Retaining people or customer is more cost effective than allowing people to
leave the organisation as recruitment process and time lag taken by the new person to
become productive is highly costly. Therefore, organization should develop :

1 Good working environment.


2 Make an Organisation a Learning Organisation by giving a minimum manhour
allotted for training and self-development.
3 Should have a monthly meeting to sort out the inter departmental tension created
due to internal as well as external environment.

The above steps will not only minimize the turnover of the managers but also keep the
managers charged and motivated.

This process will also help manager to look at the future career path provided HRD
interact with them on regular basis and assign a challenging job on a regular basis so that
managers feel newness in their job. The growth of the manager should be
well defined so that they know what they are going to get after a particular period. The
organisation should develop :

1 Well-defined career path which should be given to Managers.


2 Performance linked salary can be a good tool for motivating managers.
3 Promotion based on performance and not on experience can be considered for
making the organization vibrant.
4 Job enrichment should be a continuous process.

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Summary

1 Majority of the managers get motivated by good working environment and where
there is scope for learning. Salary is not the motivating factor.
2 Immediate good boss motivates the Indian Manager.
3 Indian manager leaves the organization because of no growth prospect within the
organization followed by no learning opportunity.
4 Improving growth and productivity of people are the two major challenges which
Indian managers forsee in the coming years.
5 Today customer management is becoming difficult as they are becoming more
demanding and are good negotiator.

Country Head, ROWA Pharmaceutical, a Germany based company operating in


170 countries and Practising Marketing Consultant. Has published more than 90
papers which have appeared in India and abroad.

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